From Tom Jackson: Are you majoring in the minors?

Last week I went to Nashville to attend another Singer-Bands Bootcamp with Tom Jackson Productions.  I came back excited about all the new things I learned and wanted to bring you a different perspective on your stage show.

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Tom Jackson talks about "majoring in the minors."  That's when you put too much effort and expense into things that don't give you a proportional return - like when a singer spends more time shopping for stage clothes than learning to sing on pitch.  When you "major in the majors," on the other hand, you put the most effort and expense into the things that DO give you the best return.  Makes sense, right?  Why would you do it any other way if you want to be successful?

Well, there's a good chance you are "majoring in the minors" in one big way: how you are spending your money for your artist career.

First question:  How much does it cost for you to be a musician or artist?

Do you have an album?  How much did it cost to make?  Do you take voice and/or instrument lessons?  Hve you done a photo shoot?  Hired a videographer?  Had a logo made, or graphic design done for you or your band?  Do you pay a monthly fee for a website?  And how much do you spend on gear?

What kind of return do you get on these investments?

Next question:  Where does your income come from as an artist?  

• Does it come from album or mp3 sales? Probably not much.  

• Does it come from publishing your original songs?  Unlikely.  

• Does it come from gigs, including merchandise sales?  Probably so!

90 to 95 percent of income made by artists these days comes from their live gigs.  Not their online album sales.  Not from song publishing.  It comes from their live gigs and from the merchandise sold at these gigs.

So why are you spending so much money on the parts of your music career that don't pay you back?

Now, yes, of course, you DO want to have a good album, web site, and promo kit.  You do want to invest in lessons to help you hone your craft.  But these things ultimately support your live show, they don't stand in place of it.  Investing in these things to get venues to book you and interest fans means nothing if your live show is unengaging.

There are a lot of resources out there for developing your live show:

• Buy one or more of Tom's DVDs

• Go to one of Tom's events

• Hire Tom or one of his associate live music producers (like my band Driving Karma just did)

• Get coaching with me or another performance coach

• Buy a backstage pass to Onstage Success and see video critiques, get advice online from live music producers, and read over 500 blog posts about stage performance

If you've been putting time and money into your album or your media, then why don't you invest in your live show where it all comes together?

(c) 2011 Adrienne Osborn

Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado.   For more free articles and tips, visit https://PerformanceHigh.net.